From what I see, the lines seem to be very thin, yet not completely soaked in... so there's evidence that all the oil hasn't soaked in completely, and I don't see remnants of soaked-in oil around the thin lines either.
Also, Activator seems to have a long life as far as everyone'e reviews to date about the cover, so this to me sounds like it just has a smaller footprint than most other balls- its something about that cover that makes it hold the energy, I don't get it, it is so dynamic.
However, my mom got a SZ around January and after I attempted to resurface it for her this week, it seems as though hers is completely saturated! So bad that after sanding to 220 and cleaning thoroughly water still just rolls off, like I never put water on it.
A side note about this ball, my first SZ has a big hole in it (my driller says it's absolutely necessary, for legal reasons) about 1.25 inch wide and about 4 to 5 inches deep - and I just love hearing it roll over that hole by the time it hits the pins. It sounds like it's rolling over the thumb hole...... man that thing flares like crazy!! Never loses energy.